


The Storm

by twin192



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-18 10:59:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 20,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7312315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twin192/pseuds/twin192
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Bellas House. Movie night. A random storm is going on outside. Beca left her precious laptop in Stacie's car and goes outside to retrieve it. Something strange happens and the next thing she knows, she's able to listen in on her friends most private thoughts. Fun? Chloe thinks so. Beca does not. THREE-SHOT</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was raining. Scratch that, there was a fucking storm going on outside and she had left her backpack with her laptop in the trunk of Stacie's car. 

The taller brunette had picked her up from her internship at Residual Heat that afternoon. They were planning to have another of their semi-regular movie nights in the Bellas house and Stacie had been so excited, she had dragged Beca into the house immediately and had flung her at an already waiting Chloe. 

As soon as the redhead's arms were enveloping her small form, every thought of her backpack and laptop had flown out of the window. 

CR and Lily had prepared some popcorn and were already sitting on one of the couches in the living room, a bunch of movies spread out between them and discussing which movie they wanted to watch first.

Beca had managed to win five minutes to clean up in an argument with Chloe who was way too excited for the movie night. 

Everyone was sprawling one way or another in the living room and they had just managed to finish the first movie – Mean Girls, much to Beca's everlasting chagrin – when all hell broke loose outside.

Half of the girls jumped into the air when the first roar of thunder had rolled through the air. Beca had gotten so startled, she had ended up sitting in Chloe's lap. The two of them had shared an edge on one of the couches and there hadn't been much space between them to begin with. Chloe was grinning at the smaller girl in her lap and wrapped her arms around her tightly.

“Aw, it's just a storm Becs. Don't worry, it can't hurt you.”

Beca glared at Chloe but didn't make a move to leave the redhead's lap. “I know that it can't hurt me, I was just surprised.”

The redhead giggled. “Yeah, I noticed. I love it when you snuggle with me, so don't you dare move.”

The little brunette rolled her eyes. “Whatever. So what's the next movie you want to torture me with? The sooner we start with that, the sooner it will be over.”

Stacie openly laughed at the suffering expression the smaller brunette was sporting on her face. “Don't worry Becs, I've bought a new one just for you. Wait a moment...”

Stacie got up and went into the hall to search for her purse.

“Damn it!”

“Is everything okay?” Chloe asked, concerned about her fellow Bella.

The tall brunette walked back into the living room with an annoyed expression on her face.

“My purse. I left it in the car earlier.”

Car... CAR?! Beca thought frantically and jumped up from her comfortable seat named Chloe and rushed to the window that faced the driveway. She pressed her face to the window and let out a suffering whine in the back of her throat.

The Bellas looked at each other questioningly but everyone shrugged, not knowing what was wrong with their captain.

“Is everything okay Shorty?” Amy asked carefully.

“No!” their tiny captain whined, hands and nose still pressed to the glass.

“I don't know what's going on Becs, but can you please take your hands and nose off the window? I just cleaned it yesterday.” Chloe said and walked over to Beca.

“But my laptop!”

Chloe sighed. “What about your laptop?”

“It's out there!”

“In the rain?”

“No!”

The redhead rubbed at the place between her brows to get rid of the oncoming headache. She hated it when Beca got like this.

“Where is it then?”

“In the car!”

“Stacie's car?”

“Yes!”

“Please stop shouting. Your laptop is safe in the car, nothing will happen to it.”

“Yes it will. I'm going to grab it.” Beca said and went into the hallway to put on her shoes. On second thought, she grabbed a pair of rubber boots that Flo usually wore when she was out in the garden.

“Woah, wait Becs!” Chloe exclaimed and followed her into the hall. The other girls scrambled over themselves to listen in on their captains conversation. “You can't go outside. There is a storm going on. You'll be soaking wet the instant you move one foot out of the door. Your laptop will be fine until the morning.”

“No. My whole life is on there, I'm not risking it. It'll only take a minute. Stacie, can I get your keys?”

The taller brunette was standing in the doorway to the living room, not trying to hide that she had been listening in. She shrugged and tossed her keys to Beca. “Sure. But be careful, I don't want you to fly away or something. The wind is insane and I can't even see the car from here.”

Beca rolled her eyes. “I'm not that light, you know? I've got some serious muscles and they weigh a ton.” She grinned at Stacie and flexed her nearly non-existent biceps.

Stacie snorted. “Sure you do. Maybe I should force you to use some of my equipment every once in a while, all I can see from here are some limp noodle arms. Can you grab my purse while you're out there? My phone is in it.”

“Beca is not going!” Chloe raised her voice and glared at the two brunettes. “It's dangerous.”

“Beca is going.” Beca said and grabbed a raincoat that was hanging on a hook next to the door. She thought it belonged to Lily but she wasn't sure.

Before anyone could say anything else, Beca had opened the door and sprinted in the direction of Stacie's car.

“Beca!” Chloe shouted but the smaller girl didn't seem to hear her. “I'm going to kill her when she comes back.” Chloe grumbled under her breath .

Amy took a few steps forward and patted the redhead on the shoulder. “Don't worry ginger, a little bit of rain has nothing on THE Beca Effin Mitchell. Shorty will be fine.”

Chloe nodded and went to the front door to see what Beca was doing. Beca was just opening the trunk when a bright flash of lightning illuminated the whole area as it struck a tree only ten meters away from their house.

The girls were screaming in surprise and Chloe frantically looked for the small brunette girl who had so recklessly run outside in a storm to rescue a piece of metal. 

“Beca!” Chloe screamed and sprinted out of the house. She was only wearing socks but she didn't care at the moment. The only thing she was thinking about was Beca.

She arrived at Stacie's car a few moments after leaving the house and found Beca on the ground behind it. She was struggling to get back on her feet and Chloe immediately helped her. They ran back inside quickly and shut the front door behind them firmly. 

Chloe grabbed Beca's arms and looked at her from her head to her toes. “Are you okay? The lightning didn't hit you, right?”

Beca blinked a few more times. She was a little confused but she didn't think the lightning hit her. “No, I'm okay. I think I was just surprised.”

Chloe grabbed her face and looked into the younger girl's deep blue orbs deeply. “Why were you on the ground then? Did you fall?”

“I think so. Look, Chloe I'm fine.”

Chloe didn't seem to want to let go of Beca's face anytime soon.

'Aca-Awkward' Amy said and Beca shook her head for a moment.

“I'm fine Chloe.”

'I'm going to kill her if something is wrong with her.'

“That would kind of defeat the purpose of me being okay, right?”

Chloe looked at Beca with furrowed brows. 

“What?” Beca asked when the silence became pressing.

“What are you talking about?”

“What do you mean? You just said you would kill me if something was wrong. But if you are worried about my health, killing me would be pretty counter productive, wouldn't it? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Um Beca, Chloe didn't say anything after asking you if you fell.”

Beca looked from one concerned Bella face to the next, until she landed on the huge worried looking bright blue eyes of her best friend.

“Beca? I didn't say anything.” 'Is she okay? She looks kind of lost and confused. Maybe a hot shower would cheer her up? She must be freezing.'

“A hot shower sounds nice. I think I'll go and have one.” Beca muttered and made her way up the stairs after shedding Lily's rain coat and Flo's rubber boots. 

The Bellas looked at each other with raised eyebrows as soon as Beca had vanished.

“Okay, what the fuck was that?” CR exclaimed.

“Maybe the lightning fried short stacks brain?” Amy suggested but got slapped by Chloe, Stacie and Flo immediately. 

“Don't even joke about that!” Stacie exclaimed angrily while Flo muttered something about a distant cousin who had been struck by lightning once but still managed to carry his three little siblings home.

Nobody commented on Flo's weird story but they all looked pointedly at Chloe. She looked at them confusedly. “What?”

“Go and talk to her!” Stacie said. Loudly. 

“She's showering! I'm going to talk to her in a few minutes. And why am I the one who has to do it?”

“If you don't know that, you're denser than I thought you were ginger. We're not getting between that.” Amy motioned her hands in Chloe's direction.

“Between what?”

Stacie decided to take over the conversation. “Forget it. Just go upstairs and make sure that Beca is alright. She was really acting strange.”

Chloe huffed. “Fine. But you guys could have done it too. Beca is your friend.”

Amy snorted. “Yeah, we're friends, but you two are 'friends'.”

Stacie put her hands on top of Chloe's shoulders and shoved her in the direction of the stairs. “Ignore Amy and go already. We'll be waiting downstairs. And change out of your clothes first, you're soaking wet!”

“Fine.” Chloe replied and made her way upstairs. She stopped at her own room first and changed into some dry clothes, before going to Beca's room. The brunette wasn't there when Chloe entered but she could hear the shower running through the bathroom door. She made herself comfortable on the brunette's bed and fished her phone out of her pocket to play the next level of Candy Crush. She knew that the game was stupid and addicting but it was fun to pass some time with. 

A few minutes later the bathroom door opened and a towel clad Beca was drying her hair with a towel as she made her way to her closet without seeing Chloe. The redhead used the opportunity to watch the small brunette.

'Damn, I always thought she was hot, but her hair and those collar bones are really great to look at.'

“Dude!” Beca exclaimed and looked at Chloe incredulously. 

“What?” Chloe replied confusedly.

“You can't say stuff like that!”

Chloe furrowed her brows. “What are you talking about Becs. I haven't said anything since you came out of the bathroom.”

“But you said you thought I was hot.”

Chloe raised her eyebrows. 'She couldn't possibly have heard what I was thinking, right? That would be ridiculous...'

“Of course I heard wh... wait, you didn't move your mouth right now. And what was that about thinking? Oh my god...” Beca's eyes had widened and her mouth had opened as she stared at Chloe.

“What are you talking about Becs?” 'Did she hit her head when she fell or something? Maybe I should call an ambulance...'

“No! I don't need an ambulance!” 

“Becs, you're starting to creep me out. I didn''t say anything about an ambulance.”

“You didn't. But you thoght about it Chloe. I think I can hear your thoughts...”

'Okay, that's it, I'm calling an ambulance.' Chloe thought and started to get up from Beca's bed. 

“No! Chloe don't you see? Something weird is happening and I don't know why, but I can hear you. Let me prove it to you. Think something.”

“Think something? Beca are you crazy?” 'I'm really getting worried now. She must have hit her head really hard, she's hallucinating.'

“I'm not hallucinating!”

Chloe stopped her movement and gaped at Beca. “How...”

Beca shrugged helplessly, eyes suspiciously shiny. “I don't know. Think something, please...”

'Um, elephant.'

“Elephant.”

'Chocolate ice cream.'

“Chocolate ice cream.”

'I have pink underwear.'

Beca rolled her eyes. “I have pink underwear.”

Chloe was starting to enjoy herself a little. She didn't know what was going on, but that didn't mean that she couldn't have some fun with it.

'I love Aubrey Posen and am sorry for everything I ever did to her.'

Beca's mouth dropped open and her eyes narrowed. “I'm not saying that.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest which made her cleavage much more noticeable. 

'Oh my god, those things should be illegal. How did she manage to get such perfect boobs?'

“Chloe!” Beca exclaimed and let her arms fall. She grabbed her towel and pulled it up until it sat right under her throat.

Chloe blushed brightly but grinned none the less. “I'm sorry, okay? I can't control what I think. And just for the record, you have an awesome pair of mhh...” The redhead was interrupted by Beca's fingers on her face. 

“Stop talking about that! I'm going to put some clothes on. Stay.”

'I'm not a dog.' Chloe thought but continued grinning as Beca walked away from her. 'Her ass isn't too bad either... I wonder what...'

“Chloe! I can hear you!” Beca shouted as she jumped into her clothes.

The redhead was laughing by now. “I'm sorry Becs... I have a dirty mind, you already knew that.”

“Yeah..” Beca grumbled. “But you usually don't think about me like that.”

'If only she knew...'

“Wait, what?” Beca stopped what she was doing and put her head around the corner to look at Chloe.

“Nothing. Hurry up and change. We're having an emergency Bella meeting.”

“What for?” Beca asked as she emerged from her closet in a loose black t-shirt and some comfortable shorts. She didn't wear any socks and her hair was sitting on top of her head in a messy bun.

'Ugh, look at those legs. Damn...'

“I don't even want to know what you're thinking right now.” Beca drawled dryly.

“Sorry. Anyway, we're having a meeting to discuss your problem.”

Beca raised an eyebrow. “My problem?”

“Well what would you like to call it?”

Beca glared at Chloe for a moment but eventually relented. She sighed deeply. “Fine. Let's go. Maybe someone has an explanation for this.”

The two of them went downstairs together and were greeted by the sight of Jessica and Ashley in a heated Tekken battle on the PlayStation while Amy, CR and Flo cheered them on. Stacie was sitting on the couch and browsed through a magazine while Lily was doing something on her phone.

“Guys?”

“Hey Becs, are you feeling okay?” Stacie asked as Beca and Chloe sat down on the couch next to her.

The little brunette nodded. “Yeah, sorry for worrying you though. I have a slight problem.”

“What kind of problem? Problems with your lady parts? I remember this one time Bumper and I sneaked away at a party and found ourselves in a field full of strange looking flowers...”

“Stop! Oh my god, stop! Chloe! I can see images as well! She was thinking about it and I saw red flowers and Bumper's j...mhhh” Chloe had clapped a hand onto Beca's mouth to shut her up. “There is no need to give us all mental scarring.”

Beca held her hands in front of her eyes to get rid of the image but since the picture was in her head, no amount of hiding from the world could erase it.

“What is going on?” CR decided to cut in and ask the obvious question.

“Um..” Beca mumbled, not really knowing how to say that she could apparently read minds. She looked helplessly in Chloe's direction. The ginger decided to help Beca out thankfully.

“Becs can read minds.”

There were ten seconds of silence until the girls started laughing.

“Good one Red. Now, seriously, what's up?” Amy asked when the laughter had died down a little. 

“I'm serious. Something must have happened during the storm. We tested it. She can really hear my thoughts and she can apparently see images about what we are thinking of as well.”

“Holy shit, you're not joking, are you?” Stacie exclaimed, eyes wide.

Beca shook her head. “No. And I don't like it. Has anybody got an idea how to get rid of it?”

“Woah woah, slow down shorty. Before we talk about that, we need some proof.”

Beca shrugged. “Sure. Think of something.”

'Hm, what to think about. Oh, I know. Hey Beca, when are you finally going to confess your feelings for Chloe? It's been a while since you broke up with Jesse and I don't want to walk in on you taking care of yourself another time.'

“Amy! Oh my god!” 

“What did she think about?” Chloe asked curiously and the other Bellas leaned closer to hear the answer as well.

“Nothing.” Beca said, face burning bright red. “I'm not repeating that Amy. Think of something normal!”

“You are so boring short stuff. Okay, give me a second.”

'Hmm, think something, oh, right. Michael Jackson!'

“Michael Jackson. Although I don't get why you would think about him.”

“Okay, that was creepy. Let's do a few more, I don't want to find out that you cheated later on.”

Beca rolled her eyes. “I'm not.”

'Okay, so, who let the dogs out?'

The small brunette furrowed her brows. “What? What dogs? We don't have dogs Amy.”

“Hm, okay, that was impressive. Last one. You said you could see images? I'll show you one.”

“Please don't...” Beca pleaded but was ignored. 

Beca's eyes widened as soon as the image Amy was thinking about registered in her brain.

“Amy!” Her face had turned bright red again. The blonde snorted and nodded to herself. “Yep, I believe her.”

Chloe looked at Beca and Amy curiously. “What did you show her Amy?”

“Nothing!” Beca exclaimed and shot a pleading look in Amy's direction. 

“Well, a little something of this, a little something of that. Nothing important.”

Chloe was about to ask for some clarification when CR interrupted her. “Woah, stop, so the little DJ can really read minds? How did that happen?”

Beca shrugged. “That's what we're trying to find out. We think it might have something to do with the storm but we've never heard of that kind of thing before. Do you have any ideas?”

The girls looked at each other with lost expressions on their faces and shrugged their shoulders.

Beca sighed and was about to upstairs and try to sleep this off when she heard Lily.

'This kind of thing happened to my cousin once. He was able to read our minds for three days. It went away after that though. We always speculated that it had something to do with the magnetic particles in the air during a storm but we never figured it out completely. We stopped investigating when it didn't come back after a few weeks. Maybe you should just wait it out.'

“Woah, Lily, I've never been able to hear you so clearly. Do you really think it will go away on it's own?”

The Asian girl shrugged. 'Probably. I mean, have you ever heard something about a person being able to read minds permanently? If this kind of thing can happen during a storm, I'm pretty sure you and my cousin aren't the only people to have experienced something like this. Give it a few days and if it won't go away, we'll start looking for some other solutions.'

“Thanks Lily. It's actually rather nice to talk to you. You should speak up more often.”

Lily rolled her eyes. 'It's not my fault that you guys are deaf!'

Beca grinned. “Woah, girl, no need to shout.”

Lily grinned back.

“Um, what was that about?” Chloe interrupted them when it looked like they were finished.

“Lily said that she knows someone that had this happen to him before and that it went away on it's own. So I think I'll just go to bed. Please be a little careful around me, I don't want to accidentally hear something private. I'll stay home for a few days and shut the world out with mixing.”

“Um, I don't want to burst your bubble, but did you get your laptop earlier? I didn't see you with a bag.”

Beca's shoulders slumped. “Right. It's still in the trunk.”

She turned around and looked out of the window. The storm was still going strong, even if the thunder and lightning had abated significantly. 

“No.” Chloe said firmly as Beca took a step in direction of the front door. “You are NOT setting a foot out there again. Who knows what will happen this time? You could wind up with some superpowers or get hit by an actual bold of lightning. The only place you're going now is upstairs. Get some sleep and don't even think about leaving the house anytime soon.”

Beca raised her eyebrows. “Are you putting me on house arrest?”

“Damn right I am! We have to keep an eye on you. I swear you get in the worst kind of troubles.”

“That's hardly my fault. What am I supposed to do without my laptop?”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Ugh, you and your first world problems. You can get your laptop tomorrow, you're going to sleep now.”

“But I need music to fall asleep...”

'Just use your damn phone girl!' Chloe thought loudly while she glared at Beca.

The small brunette scowled at the redhead. “Don't be sarcastic, that's my job. I'm going to bed now.” With that, Beca said good night to everyone and vanished upstairs. 

Amy nudged Chloe in the ribs. 

“Ow! What was that for?”

“Follow her! She can read minds! There is no way she is okay with that. She acted rather calm when she told us about it, but I can promise you that she is freaking out on the inside. Help her. I'll sleep on the couch tonight, you can have the room. Just don't do it on my bed please.”

Scowling at Amy, Chloe grabbed her phone from the coffee table and made her way upstairs. 'Seriously, the nerve of that girl... It's not that I wouldn't have checked up on Beca but the girls are rather forceful today. I wonder what's up with them.”

Chloe arrived in front of Beca's door and simply walked in. She had never bothered knocking when it came to Beca. That had led to some interesting situations over the past few years but after Beca's initial embarrassment had abated, she could laugh about it too.

When Chloe walked in she saw that Beca was lying on her bed on her stomach, feet up in the air and phone in her hands, fingers flying over the screen speedily. It looked like she was concentrating hard on something. 

“What are you doing?”

“Don't distract me Chloe. I'm so close to beating the next level...”

Chloe rolled her eyes and sat down next to Beca.

'I sometimes forget that she is a closet nerd. But she looks really cute when she concentrates like that. It's a similar look to the one she wears when she is mixing, only less... mature? Yeah, more childish and happy. I really like that look on her.'

Beca groaned loudly a few moments later and turned onto her back so she could glare at Chloe.

“Dude! You are distracting me! I lost! Could you keep your thoughts to yourself please? And I'm NOT cute, didn't we already have that conversation a million times before?”

Chloe shrugged. “Yeah. But we are still disagreeing on the answer. I won't stop calling you cute until you stop doing cute things. End of discussion.”

Beca rolled her eyes. “You're the worst. Why am I even friends with you? You don't respect my badassness.”

“That's not a word.”

“It so is.”

“If you say so. And just for the record, you are friends with me because you love me. And because I am the hottest ginger you know.”

'True. I love her.'

“Um, what? Beca?”

“Huh?”

“Don't pretend girl! You've never told me you love me to my face before. I know you do, it shows in everything you do, but you've never said it out loud like you mean it.”

“Um Chloe...” Beca slowly got up from her bed and stared at the other girl. “I didn't say it out loud... I mean, yes, I do love you but I didn't say it out loud...”

Chloe's beautiful blue eyes widened. “What do you mean, you didn't say it out loud? You are the mind reader here... Why did I hear you?”

“I don't know. Maybe this stuff is infectious. Let's test this, can you hear me?”

Beca thought about something really hard, it showed in the lines on her pretty face, but Chloe didn't hear anything. 

“Hm, strange, I'm not hearing anything.”

“Maybe it was a coincidence? Or maybe I did mutter it... I could swear I didn't but maybe I'm still confused from earlier. I should really go to bed.”

“Are you tired? I can leave you alone if you want. Maybe this will be gone in the morning?”

'Please don't leave me...'

“Um Beca, I heard that and I'm pretty sure you would never utter those words of your free will. Are you projecting your thoughts or something?”

The small brunette furrowed her brows. “How would I know? I'm not doing this on purpose. At least I don't think so.” She was trying to forget about the things Chloe heard and just focus on the immediate problem.

“Think of something you want me to hear? Or try sending me something... I don't know how this works either.”

“Um, okay, I'll try.”

Beca focused and looked directly into Chloe's eyes. 

'Chloe, I ate your chocolate muffin last week and blamed Amy when you asked me where it had gone. Ugh, I hope she can't hear this, otherwise I'm screwed...'

“... Beca.”

'Oh crap, she totally heard that. Damn, why didn't I think about something else? She's going to kill me...' “Yes?” she squeaked.

“Why did you lie to me about the muffin?”

“Um...” her eyes were wide now.

“You know what this means, right?”

“...no?”

“We're going to get me a new muffin tomorrow. And you're paying.”

“I thought we would stay inside until I'm normal again.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow. “We? Did you think I would stay with you the whole time?”

“... Well... You know what? Yes. Yes I thought that you would stay with me until I'm better.” Beca huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She was still standing in the middle of her room.

The redhead rolled her eyes. “I was playing you Becs. Of course I'm staying with you. But we can go to this awesome new muffin shop for half an hour. I doubt anything will happen.”

“Not cool dude. And what if I'll hear all the thoughts of the people there? I don't want to know what they ate for breakfast...”

Chloe rolled her eyes and motioned for Beca to sit down next to her again. “You'll be fine. Now, are you really okay with all of this? I know you said you were fine, but this is a lot to take in.”

Beca sighed and leaned back against her headboard after scooting a little further up on her bed. Chloe joined her a few seconds later.

“I'm not fine. But what can I do? There is nothing I can do to make this go away. I can only wait and hope this goes away. If it goes away...”

Chloe wrapped her arms around Beca and pulled her into a hug. “Don't worry too much about it. I'm sure this will go away in time. That's what Lily said, right?”

Beca nodded. “But I'm not sure Lily is right with this thing. I mean, have you ever heard about actual mind reading outside of fiction? I mean, yes, everybody has thought about wanting to hear what other people think once or twice in their life but actually being able to do it, is a completely different situation. If I knew that this was temporary I would enjoy it for a few days, but what if I'm stuck like this Chloe? I wouldn't be able to have a normal life. I wouldn't be able to have a normal job. I wouldn't be able to have a relationship. Having friends would be extremely hard.”

“Stop, Beca. Don't over think this. We'll deal with one day at a time.”

Beca was fidgeting nervously. “But what if...”

“No, stop it. We're not talking about what ifs. We'll deal with all your questions once they need answering. You'll only make yourself crazy otherwise. 

“Chloe what should I do? I'm scared...”

“I know Becs. But we'll deal with it. Why don't you go to sleep now? I'm sure the situation will look much better in the morning.”

“I guess you're right. Will you stay with me?”

Chloe grinned. “Of course. How hard was it? Asking that question I mean?”

Beca rolled her eyes. “Shut up. And you already knew that I wanted you to stay.”

“Yeah, well, I'll go and change and brush my teeth. See you in five minutes?”

Beca nodded. 

Five minutes later, Chloe came back into the room and joined Beca in her bed.

“Good night Becs. Don't think about anything tonight. Just relax.”

“I'll try. Thanks Chlo, sleep well.”

They snuggled up in each others arms and Chloe pressed an innocent kiss on Beca's cheek. 

'I love you Becs. Sleep tight.'


	2. Chapter 2

The first person to wake up the next morning was Chloe. She woke up slowly, her mind not wanting to leave the comfortable warmth of her current position. After giving up on falling asleep again for a few minutes, she slowly opened her eyes. She blinked a few times at the unfamiliar room until she remembered that she had stayed with Beca last night.

The brunette was laying on her left side, face and front facing Chloe while her right hand was intertwined with the redhead's left hand. A small smile made it's way onto Chloe's face as she watched her fellow Bella. 

Beca had her eyes closed and a few strands of her hair had fallen into her face. Her face looked relaxed and much younger than the one Chloe got to see on a daily basis. Without make up, Beca looked like a sixteen year old girl who had never experienced anything bad in her life. Chloe knew that that wasn't true, Beca had told her a few stories about her high school years and her mother, but Chloe still cherished this moment immensely. She could forget about everything and just imagine that life was good and nothing bad had ever happened to either of them. 

She brushed the strands of hair out of Beca's face and let her fingers linger a moment longer than necessary. The small brunette's face was softer than Chloe had imagined and she couldn't help but run her fingers over it again. Beca moved a little but didn't seem to wake up. Chloe had touched Beca's face before, but it had only been in passing or while teasing the younger girl so she never got to appreciate the soft texture of the other girl's skin.

The redheaded girl sighed deeply as she forced her hand to stop touching her best friend's face. 

'Best friend.... I would do anything if she would finally get the hint that I don't want to be her friend. She's the most oblivious person I know...' she mused and continued watching the small brunette. 

Beca moved a little and opened her eyes slowly. “Chloe? Why are you talking so early in the morning? Go back to sleep...” She mumbled and turned until she lay on her stomach, face pressed tightly into her warm pillow.

'She heard that? Damn... I hope she was too tired to think much of it.' “Sorry Becs, I'll shut up.”

“Wait... you didn't say that out loud, did you?” Beca mumbled into her pillow.

“No, sorry.”

“Damn... So it's still there. I had hoped it would have gone away by now.”

“I know. How are you feeling?”

Beca groaned and rolled back onto her side so she could look at Chloe. “Fine I guess. A little disappointed. I'm not in the mood to deal with this. Can you make it go away?”

Chloe couldn't help the grin that overtook her face. “No, sorry. Don't worry too much, Lily said it took three days with her cousin. There is still hope that it will disappear on it's own.”

“Yeah... three days. Great.”

“Look at the positive side. You probably already made it through one day.”

The small brunette sighed and closed her eyes. “Yeah, hopefully.” 

“Aw, come on Becs, this will be fun. Enjoy it while it's there. I'm sure it will only be temporary.”

Beca opened her eyes again and looked at Chloe seriously. “You don't get it. I'm not worried that it won't go away. I'm pretty sure it will, sooner or later. The thing I'm worried about is the things I'll hear while this lasts. I can't forget it once I've heard it. I don't want to know about your secrets, or about the secrets of the girls when you don't tell me about them voluntarily. I could care less about the people on the street, I'll never see them again, but I don't want to argue with you guys because of something I've heard.”

“I'm sure we won't fight with you over stuff like that. It's not your fault you overheard them. If it even comes to that.”

“But that doesn't change the fact that I most probably will hear some stuff I'm not supposed to hear.”

“Didn't I already tell you that you're not supposed to worry about what ifs? If you hear something you're not supposed to hear, just talk to the person to let them know. It will be fine.”

Beca groaned. “I don't want to deal with this. I'm staying in bed until this is over.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Don't be dramatic. Come on, I'm hungry. Let's go downstairs and get some breakfast. I'm sure the girls already made some.”

Beca buried her face in her pillow. “No.”

“Beeecaaaaa...”

“No.”

“Okay then. This is your own fault.” Chloe got out of bed and vanished into the bathroom. Beca slowly opened one eye, looking for the redhead. There is no way something good would happen after those words. When Beca saw Chloe returning with a bucket that looked suspiciously heavy, her eyes widened and she pressed her body as far as possible into the wall. 

“Chloe! Get that bucket away from me!”

Chloe raised an eyebrow. “Are you getting up?”

“Fine! I hate you, you know that?!” Beca glared at Chloe as she moved out of her warm sheets and stood up. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and started shivering. “It's fucking cold!”

“Get dressed. You'll feel warmer then.”

“You are a terrible person.” Beca grumbled as she walked to her closet and grabbed some clothes to wear. She didn't look at Chloe as she stomped into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. Loudly. 

“You are so grumpy in the morning. I'll get dressed too, let's meet downstairs in a few minutes, okay?”

“Whatever.” was the only answer Chloe got from her best friend. 

Chloe smiled. She loved grumpy Beca. It was always so much fun making the girl do stuff she didn't want to do. But Chloe always managed to get Beca to do it anyway. 

A few minutes later she went downstairs to the kitchen and greeted her fellow Bellas. They had already prepared some breakfast. Well, they got the milk out of the fridge and had put some bowls and cereal on the table. 

“Hey Red, how's the little one?”

Before Chloe could answer, Beca stomped down the stairs and glared at Chloe before greeting the other girls with a smile. 

“I'm fine.”

“Can you still...?”

“Read minds? Yeah, sorry.”

Amy shrugged. “It's fine with me. I tell you guys everything anyway. I'm like an open book.”

Beca snorted. “Right.” Everything except the Bumper situation. But all of the girls knew about it anyway so it kinda doesn't count as a secret.

'She can still read minds? Damn, I have to be careful what I think about. I need to talk to Ash later, I think it may be better to come clean. She'll find out sooner or later.'

Beca furrowed her brows and looked at Jessica questioningly. The blonde's eyes widened and she put her hands in front of her mouth as if she wanted to keep words from escaping. The small brunette just shrugged and smiled at Jessica who visibly relaxed.

“So why are you angry at Chloe?” Stacie asked as she watched how Beca went out of her way to sit as far away from Chloe as possible. They were almost inseparable usually.

Beca scowled in the redhead's direction. “She made me get out of bed. And threatened me with a bucket of water.” 

Stacie started laughing. “Really? Awesome.”

“It wasn't awesome! I was planning on staying in bed until this is over but that demon over there had other plans apparently.”

Chloe scoffed. “Be nice. You are not sick so staying in bed isn't an option. I'm just making sure you're not wasting your precious time by lying in bed and doing nothing.”

Beca rolled her eyes. “Yeah, thanks. You know what annoys me? You've been acting like my mother since yesterday and always tell me what to do. I'm 21 years old, for god's sake. I can make my own decisions.”

The other girls eyes had widened as they looked from one captain to the other. 

Chloe just got up from her seat and looked at Beca. “Want to take a walk?”

Beca was about to protest but thought better of it. “...Yes.”

She got up and put on some shoes. They both went outside and took a few steps in silence. 

'I didn't think it would annoy her so much. I mean, yes, I've been a little overbearing since yesterday, but I'm only doing that because I'm worried. I don't think it's healthy dealing with this alone. I need her to talk about it and not hide in her room.'

“I know.”

“Huh?” Chloe turned around to look at Beca in confusion, before realization crossed her face. “Oh, you heard that?”

Beca nodded. “Yeah. I know that you are worried. And I am too. Sorry for snapping at you like that. This whole thing is just really confusing and you know that I don't take well to being told what to do.”

Chloe smiled slightly. “Yes, I'm sorry. I know that. I was just worried that something would happen to you if you went outside again yesterday. And then I was worried you'd catch a cold so I said you should go to your room and shower. And then I was worried that you would just hide in your room until this is over this morning so I told you to get up. And I wanted my muffin. Sorry.”

Grinning slightly, Beca took Chloe's hand and squeezed it shortly before letting go again.

'I wouldn't mind holding her hand a little longer.'

Ignoring Chloe's thoughts for now, Beca decided to leave this conversation behind and focus on the important stuff. Food.

“I know. It's fine. I was overreacting, this is just stressful. What do you think about going to that muffin shop now? I didn't get to finish my cereal and I'm hungry.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Out loud at least. 'So I wasn't the only one who was hungry huh? Glad you got out of bed now, Mitchell?' 

“Shut it Beale. Let's go.”

Chloe grinned and the two of them walked the short way over to the muffin shop in comfortable silence. 

When they arrived there, Beca got them each a cup of coffee and a muffin and joined Chloe in a booth at the window. 

“Here you go. I hope you appreciate this muffin, I had to go through a lot to get this thing. The guy behind the counter was ogling my boobs the whole time and thought about what I looked like naked. The girl behind me was reliving a situation with her boyfriend. Vividly. Honestly, why is everybody thinking about sex? Don't they have anything better to do?”

Chloe started laughing. “This is college Beca. There are only two things most students think about. Sex and alcohol.”

“What about their education? Doesn't anybody care about that?”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “You're one to talk. Do you have any idea how long it took for me to get you to go to your classes?”

Beca shrugged. “Well, Philosophy was boring. I'm glad I changed it. But honestly, there was this guy outside who was watching his phone rather intently. I was interested what he was looking at and when I got closer I 'noticed' that he was watching a porno. In broad daylight. He was thinking about it very intensely.”

Chloe was still laughing. “Really Beca, I don't know what to tell you. But it's normal. How come you're so surprised? You must have thought like that too. At least once during your time here at Barden, right? And you can't tell me you haven't watched a porno before?”

Beca was blushing brightly by now and looked behind her suspiciously. No one was paying them any attention. Yet. 

“Chloe! I'm not talking about that! There are people here!”

Chloe shrugged. 'Who cares? Just think about it and send it to me?'

“Dude, no!”

'Come on, I want to know!'

'Seriously? Of course I have thought about sex before when I looked at some people, but I definitely didn't watch any pornos. Why would I?'

“I heard that! Great, it's working. But why? Come on, you must have been curious.”

“No. I'm not interested in seeing strangers go at it.”

“Huh. We need to change that. You and me, this evening, your room.”

“No! We're not watching pornos together!”

The people sitting at the other tables gave them interested looks and Beca blushed brightly. Chloe was laughing. 

“I think the people outside heard that.”

Beca put her hands in front of her eyes. “Shut up. Man, this is so embarrassing, why are we talking about this?”

“Because you complained about everybody thinking about sex. Honestly, you're kinda naive. You didn't believe they would really think about their studies?”

“Well, maybe not all the time, but I honestly didn't expect to 'see' so much naked skin, or 'hear' about stuff they want to do or have done. I knew it was a bad idea to get up this morning. I'm not leaving the house again.”

“We already had this discussion. But I guess I forced you to go outside for long enough now. Want to go back?”

“God, yes!” Beca exclaimed and downed the rest of her coffee in one big gulp. Both girls had finished their muffins rather quickly and agreed that it was one of the best muffins they had ever eaten.

Chloe smiled and got up as well. As they were walking through the front door and past a big group of people she saw that Beca was closing her eyes tightly and winced visibly. 

She put a hand on the younger girl's shoulder and asked her if she was alright.

Once they were out of the shop, Beca breathed deeply and nodded. “I'm fine. Those people were giving me a headache though. Too many thoughts at once I guess. It's quite hard to organize them in my head.”

“Oh. I haven't thought about that. I didn't think this would hurt you, I'm sorry. I'm not forcing you to go outside again.”

Beca grinned. “Don't worry Beale. It wasn't 'hurting' me exactly. It's just a slight headache and it's not your fault.”

“Are you sure? Having this many thoughts in your head must be uncomfortable. Sorry for not noticing your uneasiness earlier.”

Beca rolled her eyes. “Honestly, I'm fine Chlo. Let's just go home.”

Chloe nodded and took Beca's hand in her own. The smaller girl made no move to free her hand. “Yeah. So, Bree was supposed to come visit us tomorrow and stay the weekend, but I think I'll cancel. You're not feeling well and I think all of this excitement isn't too good at the moment...”

“I'm not sick, you do realize that, right? You don't have to cancel on Posen, you need some fun too.”

“Really? She can just come to visit on another weekend, it wouldn't be a problem.”

“Yes, really.”

Chloe smiled. “Great! I've really missed her.”

“I know. And here I thought I was your best friend...” Beca said, playfully acting hurt by the redhead's words.

“You are. You both are.”

Beca squinted at her fellow Bella. “I'm not studying English literature or something, but doesn't the word 'best' imply that there is nothing better than it? As in a singular thing?”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Even if that was the case, I have two best friends.”

“If you say so... but I'm not convinced Beale.” Before Beca could say more than that, her phone started ringing. She took it out of her pocket and answered it. She didn't let go of Chloe's hand though.

“Hey Jesse.”

“Not much, just walking home with Chloe.”

“Today? No, I don't have anything planned.”

“No, listen Jesse, I'm not going out tonight. I don't feel well.”

“No, I'm not sick. Well, not exactly. I'll explain everything later.”

“You don't have to come over, I'm fine.”

“Yeah, I'll call you tomorrow. Bye”

Beca sighed and put her phone back in her pocket. “Sorry, that was Jesse. He wanted to hang out tonight but I said no.”

“Yeah, I heard.” 'Why is he always interrupting when I'm with her? Jesse is a nice guy but it's seriously starting to piss me off. Why did she have to stay friends with him after they broke up?'

“Woah, Chloe, what is wrong with you? You don't want me to be friends with Jesse? Seriously? You don't get to decide who I hang out with.” Beca freed her hand from Chloe's and started walking a little faster. They were already in the driveway of the Bellas house, so Beca angrily opened the door to the house.

“Beca, no, come on, wait. Let me explain, please!” Chloe called after her but Beca ignored her. The small brunette stomped up to her room and didn't look back.

Chloe sighed deeply. Stacie had been sitting on the couch and had seen Beca's departure.

“Um, Chloe? Are you guys alright?”

“Yeah. Sorry you had to see that.”

“It's not a problem. What is going on?”

“Ugh, Beca heard something I thought and now she's angry at me.”

“Well, I'm sure she'll forgive you. She always has. Want to take your mind off it for a while and go shopping with me? I need some new stuff.”

“I don't know. I promised Beca that I would stay with her while this mind reading thing is going on.”

“You know her better than I do, but if she's angry, she needs to cool off. You'll only get yelled at if you try to talk to her now. Give her a few hours and try talking to her in the evening again.”

“Hm, I think you're right. And it's been a while since we did something together. Wait a second, I'll just text her where I've gone. I don't want her to think that I broke my promise.”

Stacie rolled her eyes. “You two are so domestic, it seems like you've been married for 50 years. When are you going to tell her that you love her? It's been forever since Becs broke up with Jesse and I don't think I have seen you in a relationship for as long as I've known you. What's up with that?”

Chloe shrugged and followed Stacie to her car after she shot a short text to Beca. “I'm not looking for someone at the moment.”

“Don't give me that excuse. You've been in love with the midget since the moment you laid eyes on her, right?”

“Well, maybe. But I don't know how she thinks about me so I'm playing it safe.”

“Ugh, your playing it safe is reason for a lot of unresolved sexual tension whenever you two are in a room together. It's starting to affect the other girls.”

Chloe raised an eyebrow as she sat down in the passenger seat of Stacie's car. 

“Really? And honestly, it's not my fault. If she would just get the hint, you wouldn't have to worry about anything being unresolved. But I don't want to pressure her, so I'm waiting. And now isn't a good time. We'll have to deal with this mind reading thing first, then I can think about other stuff.”

“Yeah, really. But now is the best time! You can just think something she'll have to acknowledge. If you confess your love to her, she doesn't have any other choice than to talk to you about it. And you can just say you couldn't control your thoughts or something. Well, you could just tell her upfront, but you're too chicken for that.”

“I don't know Stacie. Let's talk about something else for a few hours alright? How's school? What do we need to buy at the mall?”

Stacie grinned and started talking as she moved the car out of the driveway.

 

Beca had stomped up the stairs angrily and slammed the door after her when she arrived in her room. She kicked off her shoes and jumped into her bed, burying her face in her pillow.

Why would Chloe think like that? Her and Jesse had been friends since the moment she had arrived at Barden and even though they had dated for a while, Beca didn't see any harm in continuing their friendship. Chloe had never been very fond of the boy but Beca had thought they got along fine. 

She groaned loudly into her pillow and decided to use mixing to calm down. She didn't want to fight with Chloe, but the redhead's mothering over the last day and her comment a few minutes ago really annoyed Beca. It wasn't really Chloe's fault, Beca knew that, the redhead couldn't help what she was thinking, but it angered her none the less. She just needed to calm down and have a talk with Chloe later, because she needed to find out what the redhead had meant with her thoughts.

Beca had been sitting on her laptop for a few minutes when a ding alerted her to an incoming text message. She opened her phone to look who had messaged her.

Chlo: Hey Becs, I'm going out with Stacie for a few hours. Just wanted to let you know, I don't want you to think I have ditched you. I always keep my promises. Talk to you later (hopefully)... xoxo C

Ugh, damn, it was so hard to stay mad at the girl. But it was probably for the best that she was out of the house for a few hours. Beca knew herself and she realized that she had to calm down before she spoke with Chloe again. She didn't want to fight again, so she needed to relax first. 

She had been mixing for about half an hour when a knock on her door broke her concentration. “Come in!” She called and pulled her headphones from her ears until they rested around her neck.

A blonde and a brunette came up the stairs, smiling carefully. 

“Jess, Ash, what's up? Everything okay?”

Jessica and Ashley nodded and sat down on Amy's bed. Beca turned her chair until she could look at the two girls.

“Yeah, everything is fine. We just wanted to talk to you about something.” Jessica started.

Beca raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What is it?”

“Well, you've heard what I was thinking this morning, right?”

Beca nodded. “Yeah, but I won't say anything. Everyone has their secrets and you're entitled to yours. If I ever hear something specific, I won't say a word to anyone, I promise.”

Jessica and Ashley smiled. “Yes, we know. But we talked about it and we thought it was time to talk to you guys. Well, CR already knows but we were a little unsure how to broach the topic. It's just that all of you guys have so much going on in your lives and it never seemed like the right time to tell all of you. And well, since you can kind of read minds at the moment, we decided to talk to you first and then wait for a good time to tell the others.” Ashley said and took Jessica's hand in hers.

Beca was intrigued by their vague explanation but could kinda already tell in which direction this conversation would go. She had always had some suspicions, but she never bothered to snoop in her friends business. “You can talk to me about anything, we're friends, remember?”

The girls chuckled. “Yeah, but it was somehow never the right time. Well, I'll just say it. Jess and I have been together for the last few months and if you ever hear something about that in our thought, you know why. So, yeah.”

Beca smiled brightly and got up from her chair to go over to the girls and hug them. “Aw, I'm so happy for you guys! Congratulations! Why haven't you told us? You didn't think that we would have a problem with it, right? We are not that close minded.”

“No, we know, it was just a strange situation. At first we wanted to see if this would work out or of it would be just a phase and when we noticed that it became serious, we just didn't know how to tell you guys. CR kinda walked in on us once, so she has known for a few weeks now. You are not mad, are you?” Jessica asked once Beca has sat down next to them on Amy's bed. 

“Mad? Why would I be mad? I'm happy for you guys, I'm sure it will work out for you. And to be honest, I've had my suspicions but I didn't want to pry.” 

Ashley let out a huge sigh of relief. “Oh thank god, I was really worried you would be mad that we didn't tell you sooner.”

“See Ash, she's fine with it. I told you that she would be.” Jessica said and grinned at her girlfriend.

Ashley rolled her eyes. “Yeah, you were right, okay? Happy?”

The blonde nodded. “Very.”

“Aw, you guys are so cute! When are you telling the others?”

Ashley shrugged. “I don't really know. I think we should wait until you're back to normal again.”

Beca sighed. “Yeah, maybe that's a good idea. I really hope this will go away soon.”

“I'm sure it will. So, I don't want to pry but are you fighting with Chloe? It kinda sounded like it when you stomped up to your room.” Jessica asked slowly.

“Ugh, yeah. Well, she thought something that I heard and I'm a little mad about that. She told me if I ever heard something in someone's thoughts that I didn't like I should tell them and talk about it. I'm trying to calm down at the moment and I plan on talking to her when she comes back in the evening.”

“Sounds like you already have a plan. Just don't fight too long, okay? The house always feels gloomy when you two have an argument.” Ashley said.

“I hope it'll work. I hate fighting with her but I really don't get what her problem is with Jesse. I thought she liked him.”

“Oh, this is about Jesse? About damn time.” Jessica muttered.

“Wait, what? You know what her problem is?”

“Of course. But you should talk to her. And let her finish speaking before you say anything, okay? Trust us, you will be glad if you let her finish talking.” Jessica continued. 

“Can you give me a hint? So I can prepare myself?”

Jessica and Ashley laughed. “Oh no, we're not getting involved in that. Thanks for listening to us, we'll leave you to your mixing now. Remember to talk to Chloe.” 

Beca groaned. “Thanks guys. For nothing. You could have at least given me a hint. But okay, leave me alone, I'll be thinking about it for the whole day...”

Jessica and Ashley were still laughing as they walked down the stairs. “No problem. Have fun with your mixes, we'll see you later.”

 

Beca had been mixing for a few hours when she heard voices from downstairs. It seemed like Chloe and Stacie were back from their shopping trip. 

She was just debating if she should go to Chloe or if she should wait until the redhead came to her, when she heard her door open. 

“Becs?”

“Come in Chlo.”

Chloe walked up the steps and looked at Beca, who was still sitting at her desk, worriedly. “Um, can we talk?”

Beca nodded. “Yeah, I'd like that. So how did your shopping trip go?”

Chloe shrugged and sat down on Beca's bed. The brunette turned around to face her. “It was nice. It's been a while since I hung out with Stacie and you know the girl, not a dull moment anywhere near her.”

“That's good I guess.” 

“Yeah...”

“So...”

“I'm sorry Beca. I can't control what I think and I don't want to tell you who you can hang out with. I'm sorry you heard that.”

“I'm sorry too. For getting angry like that. I should have talked to you about it like you told me to and not ran away like that.”

“Yeah, well, it happened. Have you calmed down?”

“Yes. Um, what is your problem with Jesse?”

Chloe sighed. She had talked with Stacie and the girl had told her to be honest. Chloe doubted that it would be the best idea but she couldn't take this uncertainty much longer.

“I was jealous.”

“Of Jesse? Why?”

“Well, you're good friends. And you've been together before. I was just jealous of your relationship.”

“I don't get that. You are my best friend. Jesse was my boyfriend and is my friend as well. I would put him at number two but don't tell Amy about that, she'd freak. I always tell her that she's my number one, you know?” Beca tried to get Chloe to smile but it didn't seem to be working.

'Okay, now or never, I hope I don't screw this up...' Chloe told herself and braced herself. She took a deep breath and just let the words out. “I love you Beca.”

Beca furrowed her brows. “I know that. What is going on?”

Chloe groaned. “No, not like that. I'm in love with you and I was jealous of Jesse because he got to call you his girlfriend.”

There were a few moments of silence where nobody said anything.

“Say something Beca. Please...”

“... what? You love me? As in you want to be in a relationship with me?” Beca asked, still a little confused.

Chloe closed her eyes tightly and nodded once. 'Oh my god, she's going to reject me, oh my god, I'm going to die if she doesn't say anything soon.'

“Chlo... I love you, really, but you are my best friend. Can't we just stay friends?”

It felt like an entire lake of ice cold water had crushed over Chloe as soon as she heard those words. She snapped her eyes open and looked at her best friend with so much hurt in her eyes, the younger girl had to look away. Chloe gulped down the first sob that threatened to break free and fought down the tears. 

“Um, sure. I'll let you get back to mixing then. Good night Becs.” Chloe said hurriedly and rushed out of Beca's room. 

“Chlo, wait!” Beca tried to stop the other girl, but the redhead had already left the room.

'Damn, that was totally not the way I intended to phrase that. Oh my god, she's never going to talk to me again...' Beca thought frantically and blinked a few times to get rid of the tears that threatened to stream down her face. 'I totally ruined our friendship...'

Beca thought about following Chloe and making things right but she knew that the other girl needed to calm down and she needed to think about a few things too before she talked to Chloe again. She sighed deeply and decided to go to bed and do some thinking.


	3. Chapter 3

About half an hour after Chloe had left her room, Beca's thoughts got interrupted by some loud footsteps that stomped up the stairs to her room.

“Beca!“

“Huh?“

“What did you do? The ginger is crying like the world just ended and she won't tell us what's wrong.”

Beca rolled her eyes and turned away from Amy. 

“Don't ask me. Ask her. I'm sorry that she is crying but I'm not the person she wants to see right now.”

“What the hell did you do? In all of the years that you guys have known each other, there hasn't ever been a day that she wouldn't have wanted to talk to you. Get up and go to her! Apologize or distract her or whatever. Just do something!”

Beca started getting angry. “Why is it always my fault?! I didn't do anything! Can you maybe listen to my side of the story first before you always blame me? I'm sick and tired of you guys always taking Chloe's side if we are arguing!”

“That's not true and you know that.”

“Do I?”

Amy choose that moment to sit down on her bed and looked at Beca, who was still lying in her bed, face pressed into her pillow and blankets pulled over her whole body. “Are you alright?”

“No! I want to be alone, can you just leave?!”

'What the hell is wrong with her? She usually only snaps at me when I wake her up too early. Oh, Beca can hear this, right? Okay then, Beca? I'm sorry for accusing you of doing something wrong without knowing the story. We're just worried. About both of you, okay? Do you maybe want to talk to somebody else? I can get them if you want.'

“No Amy. Please just leave...”

“Okay, I'll leave you alone Beca. Just shout if you need anything. I'm gonna stay with one of the other girls again tonight so I won't bother you.”

“Thanks.”

Amy took a minute longer to look at Beca, but when the young brunette didn't say anything else, the blonde turned to go back to the living room. She couldn't help but cast one last worrying look in her friend's direction though.

Beca ignored Amy and just stayed in her bed, thinking about her argument with Chloe. Well, it hadn't really been an argument, more like a misunderstanding? But if it had been a misunderstanding, why wasn't she trying to make things right with Chloe? 

The brunette sighed deeply. She had to figure out the answer to the real question. Did she love Chloe? 

Yes, she could confirm that without a sliver of a doubt. 

Did she want to have a romantic relationship with Chloe? 

… that question was a little harder to answer. If Beca didn't have to think about any consequences or the future, the answer would be simple, but she had to consider everything. This decision would change her life fundamentally, regardless of the answer she would come up with.

Deciding that thinking about it wouldn't help her today, she grabbed her headphones and her laptop and closed her eyes. Music had always helped her think and calmed her down.

 

“Rebecca Mitchell!!”

“Huh?” Beca mumbled as she turned her head from her pillow and blearily opened her eyes. She immediately closed them again when the blaring sun shone brightly through her window straight into her eyes. 

She had just noticed the thundering footsteps on her stairs when her door was practically kicked open and a fuming blonde stormed into the room, eyes blaring angrily. 

“Beca!!”

Beca sighed and closed her eyes. She should have expected a visit from Aubrey. But she didn't think she would arrive so early and get the story out of Chloe so quickly. The small brunette hadn't slept well so she really wasn't in the mood to let Aubrey bitch at her and blame her for the world's problems. So she turned her head back to her wall and mumbled a “get out” in Aubrey's direction.

“I'm not leaving until you tell me what the hell is wrong with you!” 'I can't believe she did that to Chloe. I really thought she would reciprocate Chloe's feelings. I was so sure that the hobbit had been in love with her since the moment they met all those years ago. Why is she acting like this?'

“Go away Aubrey. I'm not in the mood to talk to you right now. All you'll do is accuse me of doing something wrong anyway.”

“I'm not accusing you of anything, I just want to know what the hell is wrong with you. Chloe is still crying by the way. She has been crying the whole night and it has taken me a long time until she finally spilled what had happened. What is going on Beca?”

“I'm not talking about this with you. Get out.”

“I'm not going anywhere. The girls have told me about your 'situation'. Does it have anything to do with that? And is it still there?”

Beca groaned. “No, it has nothing to do with it and yes, it's still there.”

“Cool.”

Beca's eyes opened and she looked at Aubrey with a surprised expression on her face. “Cool? What is cool about this situation?! I'm fucking miserable and all you do is say it's cool! Get out Aubrey!”

The blonde rolled her eyes. “Don't be dramatic. Lilly said that it will probably go away on it's own. Calm down and tell me what's going on.” Aubrey decided to sit down on Beca's bed, despite the younger girl's obvious discomfort with their proximity. 

“I'm fine. Go and comfort Chloe.”

“No, I've done that for the past three hours. It's your turn.”

“Three hours? At what kind of godforsaken time did you get here?”

“I got here at 8 am Beca. It's a little after 11 am.”

Beca's eyes widened. Really? Damn, she really slept long. Well, she didn't sleep exactly, but she spent a long time just lying in her bed. 

“Oh. Well, I've got no plans for today so I can lie in bed for as long as I want.”

“No you can't. What's up with you? I thought you loved Chloe.”

“I do.”

“Then what the hell is your problem?”

“None of your business.”

Aubrey was starting to get angry. She knew that there was something wrong, but the casual way in which Beca dismissed her concern was getting on her nerves.

“I swear to god Mitchell, if you don't start talking right now, I'll force it out of you.”

Beca ignored her.

'Ugh, why did this girl have to be so frustrating? Beca, come on, I want to help you! I hope this works, otherwise it would be pretty embarrassing. But nobody would know because it all would have been in my thoughts... hm, this is confusing...'

“Don't break you brain Aubrey. I can read your thoughts and I appreciate that you want to help me but I'm really not in the mood for that conversation.”

“I don't really care what you're in the mood for. I just want to understand why you would throw away the best thing that has ever happened to your life.”

“I don't want to loose her.”

“Then go and get her!”

“I would loose her anyway.”

Aubrey furrowed her brows. “What are you talking about? You're loosing her right now.”  
Beca shook her head, still lying in her bed and not looking at Aubrey. “No, she will get over it. She will be upset for a while but after that everything will go back to the way it was.”

Aubrey couldn't help but laugh at that. “Oh no Beca, that's where you are wrong. Chloe loves you. Like genuinely loves you. I don't think she will ever be able to talk to you or interact with you without your rejection hurting her heart. Things will never go back to the way they were before, regardless of what you do.”

Beca shut her eyes tightly, trying to suppress the oncoming tears. This was what she had feared the most. Aubrey had said the thing that had been the reason for her misery over the past few hours. She had screwed up and if she didn't do anything, she would loose the redhead forever. But if she did something and ended up in a relationship with Chloe, she was sure that she would screw up sooner or later and loose Chloe then too. 

“Beca.”

“What?”

“Can you tell me why you're making this so difficult?”

“What am I making difficult? You talking to me or the situation with Chloe?”

Aubrey groaned. “Both actually. But I meant the situation with Chloe. Although I'd really like to know why talking to you is like pulling teeth.”

“I have a lot to think about Aubrey. Can you please leave me alone and let me do that? I love Chloe, yes, but I still need to think about some stuff. Just give me one day, okay? I'll talk to Chloe in the evening.”

Aubrey wasn't convinced but knew that she wouldn't get anywhere with Beca at the moment. “Okay, you win. But please, talk to her later today. I'll take her out of the house for a while and distract her. If you need something, don't hesitate to call, alright? As much as I hate to admit it, you've grown on me hobbit. Not literally of course, you're still just as tiny as the first day that I met you.”

Beca rolled her eyes. “Thanks Posen. Keep her company for a while, alright? I'll try to figure my shit out until this evening.”

“You do that. The rest of the Bellas are still here, okay?”

“Yeah. It's nice to see you Posen.”

Aubrey laughed. “Thanks Beca. It's nice to see the back of your head too. Maybe I'll catch a glimpse of your whole face later today.”

Beca snorted. “Get out of here.”

Aubrey grinned and left Beca alone to go and fetch Chloe. 

 

Just when Beca thought she could finally have some peace and quiet to think about the most important decision of her life, the door to her room opened once more.

Beca groaned. Loudly. “Who is it now? Can you guys please leave me alone? I really need some time to think.”

'I've come to help you with that.'

Beca turned her head and looked at Lilly. “Lilly? What are you doing here?”

The Asian girl rolled her eyes. 'Helping you. Do you want to tell me what's going on?'

“Not particularly. Hey, did you talk to your cousin about this mind reading thing? Could he see images as well?”

Lilly nodded. 'I talked to him. And he could see images as well, but he avoided it when he could. He didn't want to invade our privacy like that. But he said the same thing we already knew. It just went away on it's own. He doesn't know why and there was no warning. It was just gone one day.'

“Well, I'll have to wait and see then. Not to sound rude or anything, but I really want to be alone...”

'Come on Beca, I know what your problem is. You can talk to me about it and I won't breathe a word of it to anyone.'

“I'm not worried about you guys talking about it. I know that I can trust you when you say that you won't say anything to anyone. I'm just not sure what's really going on. I mean, yes, I do know what's going on but I can't decide if I did the wrong thing or if I should do something about it.”

'Why don't you start with sitting up? Wasting your time in bed won't help anyone.'

Beca rolled her eyes but followed Lilly's suggestion. She sat up and pushed her blanket to the end of her bed and sat down on it, cross legged. Lilly sat down next to her, leaving quite a bit of space between them. She knew that Beca preferred her space. Well, from anyone except Chloe that is. The redhead was allowed to do anything to Beca. The small brunette would still complain or roll her eyes but she never said no to Chloe and she never pushed her away. 

'So what is it you can't decide on?'

“I don't know if I want to be in a relationship with Chloe.”

Lilly raised an eyebrow. 'I'm a hundred percent sure that that is not true. Care to rephrase that?'

Beca glared at the other girl. “Fine. So, I want to be in a relationship with Chloe but I'm not sure if I should.”

'And why is that?'

“I don't know.”

'Beca. Why is that?'

“Ugh, you're the worst. Fine, I'm scared of the consequences okay? I know that I'll screw up one day and I don't want to loose Chloe.”

'You're already loosing her.'

“You're not helping!”

Lilly shrugged, not looking the least bit sorry. 'It's true. If you don't go and talk to her soon, I'm not sure what she'll do. You know Chloe, she is a very spontaneous person. If she decides that you don't want her and that being near you would hurt her, she'll probably be on a plane to god knows where tomorrow morning. She could finish her classes anywhere or just do them online.'

Beca gaped at Lilly. “She would never do that. She loves the Bellas and Barden. She would never leave.”

Lilly shook her head. 'And that's where you are wrong. True, Chloe loves us and this place but the one thing she really loves is you. She would have never failed her classes so many times if it wasn't for you.'

“No. Chloe failed Russian Literature because it's a hard class.”

'It's not. Chloe can pass that class easily if she wants to. The only reason she's been staying at Barden for this long is you. I guess she's just waiting for you to realize that she's there. That she's been waiting for you since the moment she met you. All of the Bellas can see it and have been able to see it since our first practice session. Beca, why are you ignoring all those obvious signs?'

Beca knew that Chloe had been staying at Barden for her. Of course she knew, the girl was brilliant and a Russian Literature class wouldn't be something that could stop her. Beca had seen her reading entire novels in Russian at the same speed Beca would take to read a book in normal English. So yes, she knew that Chloe was failing deliberately. And she had never brought the topic up because she was hiding. Hiding her feelings and glad about every year she could spent with Chloe without having to decide on a future. 

“I'm not ignoring anything.” She tried but knew that Lilly knew that she was busted.

'Don't play that game with me. We've ignored things for this long because we thought that you would get your head out of your ass sooner or later but now that the cat's out of the bag, you need to decide. And soon. Chloe won't wait forever.'

“She wouldn't leave...” Beca whispered breathlessly. 

'She would. Once people reach their breaking point they'll do anything to avoid the hurt that they know is coming if they stay. You haven't seen Chloe since she came out of your room yesterday evening. That girl is breaking and if you don't go to her soon she will be leaving. And I don't know if she'll be back.'

“No.” 

'Beca, she will. The whole world is waiting for her. With her brains and personality she can do nearly everything. She's been limiting herself because of you. If you don't want her, set her free and let her live up to her potential.'

“I do want her!”

'Then go and get her!'

“I'm scared!”

'Of what?'

“Of everything! Of the commitment, of screwing something up, of being a bad girlfriend, of being like my father and not staying when things get hard. I'm not a good person to be in a relationship with. I loved Jesse but we broke up anyway. Because I couldn't remember our scheduled dates, because I didn't ask him how his day went everyday, because I would rather spent time with you guys than with him. Because he was never my number one.”

Lilly nodded. 'Chloe's always been your number one, huh? But we're not talking about Jesse here. Have you ever forgotten about a meeting with Chloe? Did you ever ignore her call when she was taking the time to call you? Did you ever fail to ask Chloe how her day went?'

“No, but that doesn't mean that I won't screw up. I don't want to hurt her like that. If we never get into a relationship, I can't hurt her.”

'You're hurting her right now.' 

Beca groaned. “I know. But it would be worse if we got together.”

'You don't know that. You can't make this decision based on hypothetical things that could happen. It's a simple choice. Do you want to have Chloe in your life?'

“Yes!”

'Then you need to go and get her. She won't wait around any longer after all of this.'

Beca put her head in her hands and groaned. “This is all so fucked up. If I hadn't ever gotten this strange mind reading ability, everything would be fine. I wouldn't have found out that Chloe loved me and she wouldn't have said it out loud. Everything would have been fine.”

Lilly rolled her eyes. 'You knew that Chloe loved you. You just never talked about it out loud. You were deluding yourself and you know it. You can't hide anymore, you need to decide. Today.'

“Ugh. I know. What am I supposed to do?”

'I told you already, you love Chloe and Chloe loves you. I don't see any reason why the two of you shouldn't be together. Unless you have a problem with her being a girl. I don't know if you've ever been in a relationship with a woman, but I know that Chloe has. Is that your problem?'

Beca blushed. “No, it's not that. It's true that I've never been in a relationship with a woman, but that's not an issue. I love Chloe, I don't care that she is a woman. But I'm scared of that too by the way. Everything is new.”

'It is but you two will make it work. If you get your ass out of bed and grow a backbone.'

“Geez, thanks Lilly. You could have said that a little nicer.”

'Nice isn't working with you. I've been up here for half an hour trying to convince you of something you already know. You only need the last kick in your butt to get you moving. I can get Amy if you want, she'd be honored to do it.'

Beca shuddered. “No thank you.” She breathed out heavily. “Well, I guess I'll take a shower and put some clothes on. Do you know when Chloe will be back? Aubrey said that she was taking her out of the house.”

'Great! And I think they'll be gone for a few more hours but it wouldn't hurt to take a shower. Your hair looks like it has never even seen a hair brush.'

Beca grinned. “Hey now, don't hate the hair. But thanks. For talking to me. I never knew that talking to you would be so nice.”

Lilly rolled her eyes. 'I would talk to you guys more often but you guys are always deaf and don't care enough to listen closely when I talk.'

“That's not true Lilly. We do care. But it's always so wild and loud around the house and it's hard to hear you. And every time we ask what you said, someone always interrupts. Sorry. I'll try and talk to you more often, give you a little more attention when all of this is over and I'm hopefully back to normal.”

'It's fine Beca. I don't mind it. I have fun muttering mildly disturbing things under my breath. Your reactions are really funny.'

Beca raised an eyebrow. “Oh? So you're doing that deliberately? Damn, Lilly, you were the cause for at least ten of my nightmares, did you know that?”

Lilly grinned and shrugged. 'Well, that's my kind of fun. Let me have it.'

Beca rolled her eyes. “Sure. So, I'll be taking a shower now and after that, I'll try and talk to Chloe.”

'Great. My work here is done then. You are a great captain, by the way. You know that, right?'

“Thanks Lilly. I really appreciate it. And what do you mean?”  
'No problem. And I just wanted to use this opportunity and tell you. That I really appreciate everything you do for the Bellas. You're the reason we won so many competitions. Thank you.'

“Aw, thanks Lilly. I'm happy to do it, don't worry. I'm glad you think so. I sometimes think that I'm too harsh on you guys.”

Lily shook her head. 'No, you're only asking us to do what you're doing yourself. You're a great leader.'

Beca smiled. “Thanks.”

'No problem. See you later Beca.' Lilly said and vanished down the stairs.

'Huh', Beca thought. 'Lilly is a great listener. I should really talk to her more often.' The small brunette got up from her bed, grabbed a towel and some clean clothes and went into the bathroom.

 

“Do you want to grab a coffee Chloe?” Aubrey asked after the two of them had been walking around campus for 15 minutes. 

“No Bree, I'm fine.”

“Are you sure? Would you mind if I get one to go then? I've been up for a while.”

Chloe shook her head. “I don't mind. I'm sorry that you had to wake up early. You could have come around noon like we planned.”

Aubrey snorted. “Yeah, right. After I've been on the phone with you for the whole night, listening to you crying your heart out I couldn't bring myself to wait any longer. I'm always there if you need me Chlo.”

Chloe grinned and hugged her friend tightly. “Thanks Bree, I know you are.”

The two of them quickly walked to a nearby coffee shop and grabbed a coffee for Aubrey. They continued walking a few minutes longer until they sat down on a bench next to a few trees. 

“Bree?”

“Hm?”

“What did Beca say?”

“Not much. She didn't want to talk to me. But I told her that she needed to make a decision by tonight and she told me she would. I'm sure it will work out Chlo.”

Tears were starting to gather in the redhead's blue orbs again. “But she was pretty clear yesterday Bree. She doesn't want to be with me in that way and I don't want to pressure her. I don't know if I could believe her if she told me she suddenly changed her mind.”

“Don't talk like that Chloe. I think the hobbit's confused and doesn't know what to do. The mind reading situation isn't really helping. I'm sure she will get her act together.”

“I don't know. I thought she loved me.”

“She does. She told you that, right?”

“But not in the way I want her to love me.”

“You don't know that. I hate to take her side on this but just give her until tonight to apologize to you. Don't decide on anything just yet.”

“I won't. I'm not in any condition to make any decisions today.”

The two of them remained silent for the next few minutes until Aubrey spoke up again. “Chlo?”

“Hm?”

“What would you do if Beca said she wanted to stay friends with you? Nothing more?”

Chloe sighed. “I don't know. I'd like to think that I could just stay friends with her, but I'm not sure I could handle that. My heart has always been hurting when I was with her but now that she knows that I love her it's different. If she rejects me, I would always think about that whenever I'd be with her.”

“You can't just leave Barden and the Bellas Chloe.”

“That's not what I implied. But why couldn't I? I could retake my Russian Literature test any time and I would pass. I could just graduate and go job hunting.”

“You don't mean that Chloe. I'm sorry for asking, let's just talk about something else, alright?”

“Want to talk about your love life?”

Aubrey blushed deeply. “No! I didn't mean me! Let's talk about you!”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “We've been talking about me the whole day. I want to know what's going on in your life.”

The blonde rolled her eyes. “You know what's going on in my life. We talk multiple times a week.”

“Yeah, but it's been a while since we talked about your love life.”

“Don't call it that. And I don't have one, you know that.”

“You've been talking to Stacie, haven't you?”

“What does Stacie have to do with this conversation?”

“I don't know, you tell me?”

“You're ridiculous Chloe.”

“Am I?”

“Let it go Chloe.”

“Why? You like her.”

“We're friends.”

“No. I'm friends with Stacie and the other girls are friends with Stacie. You two have something else going on.”

“I don't know what you're talking about.”

Chloe just shook her head. “Fine, if you say so.”

Before Aubrey could say anything else, the girls were interrupted by a friendly voice. “Chloe, Aubrey, hey, how are you? It's been a while, hasn't it?”

Chloe lifted her head and looked straight at the grinning face of Jesse Swanson. 

“Oh for the love of god, you're the last face I want to see today!” Chloe said and glared at him.  
Jesse's eyes had widened and he took a few steps backwards while he made calming motions with his hands. “Woah, I'm sorry, I just wanted to say hi.”

Chloe was about to respond but Aubrey put a hand on her friend's arm to calm her down. “Sorry Jesse, your timing is really terrible. I'm sorry for Chloe's words, she's just upset. It's nice to see you too by the way.”

Jesse furrowed his brows. “Upset? Is everything okay Chloe?”

“No!”

The brunette boy was surprised by Chloe's behavior. She had never talked to him like that before. “Um, sorry I asked. I actually just wanted to ask if you knew if Beca was okay. She isn't picking up her phone and she told me yesterday that she would talk to me soon.”

Chloe's eyes were blazing by now, but Aubrey stopped her once again. “Beca's fine, don't worry. She's just busy, we'll tell her you asked about her and that she should call you soon. We have to go now, it was nice to see you again.”

“Um, sure. Thanks I guess. Feel better Chloe.” Jesse said and quickly walked off in the direction of his dorm.

When he had vanished around the next corner, Aubrey turned to look at Chloe. “Seriously, what the hell? What did he do to you? You can't just snap at people like that.”

Chloe shrugged her shoulders. “He makes me angry.”

Aubrey raised an eyebrow. “Why? He is a nice boy.”

The redhead snorted. “Yeah, right. I hate that he is still friends with Beca even though they broke up forever ago. He is always around Bree.”

Aubrey couldn't help but let a small laugh escape. “So that's what this was. You're jealous.”

Chloe blushed. “No, I'm not. He is just really annoying.”

“Right. Have you calmed down enough now? I think it would be best if we went back to the house now. Beca had enough time to think, it's time that you two talked.”

“Are you sure? I don't mind staying outside a little longer. The weather is nice today and...”

“Don't even try it Chloe Beale. You aren't hiding from this conversation. It needs to happen sooner or later and I prefer sooner. So let's go.”

“Bree, I don't know. I can't handle it if she breaks my heart.”

“She won't, now come on.”

Chloe followed her blonde best friend reluctantly but couldn't help but think that she was right. She had to talk to Beca. And the sooner she went back to the house, the sooner she could have her answer.

After Beca's shower she decided to go to the kitchen and grab something to eat. She hadn't eaten anything today and was quite hungry. She was just contemplating on a simple sandwich versus macaroni and cheese as she walked into the kitchen.

“Hey Beca.”

Beca jumped a little at the sudden noise and turned around to look at a grinning Stacie. The tall brunette was baking cookies or something and was wearing a black apron with pink writing on it. Beca squinted a little until she could read the small words. Kiss the cook but don't touch the buns. 'Huh, cute.'

'Is she staring at my boobs?'

“No!” Beca hurried to say as soon as she heard Stacie's thoughts. “I was just reading the print. It's not my fault that it's directly on your chest.”

Stacie laughed. “Yeah, I know. That's why I got this one. Directs the attention straight to the place it needs to go.”

Beca rolled her eyes. “Right. So, why are you baking? Need to go somewhere?”

“No, I was in the mood to bake something and you know how the Bellas are. Leave some food on the counter for half an hour and it's gone when you come back. So I know it won't go to waste.”

“Can I have some?”

“Sure. Did you eat anything else today?”

“Um...” 

Stacie snorted. “Yeah, don't even try it. I know that you didn't come out of your cave for the last 18 hours or something. You're probably starving.”

Beca shrugged. “Well, I could eat something. But I really want some of your cookies.”

Stacie grinned. “You'll get some after you ate something substantial. You are having that talk with Chloe tonight, right? So you need your strength. Either for crying when it all goes to hell or for the awesome and wild sex you two will be having.”

“Stacie!”

“What? You two are hot. Seriously, I once had a dream about the three of us and let me tell you, if my imagination is anywhere near the truth, you will need your stamina.”

Beca was blushing brightly by now. “Oh my god. You can't just say stuff like that Stacie!”

“Why? Because you get embarrassed by it? Don't worry, your blush is cute.”

“No! Well yes, but why are you even thinking about us like that? And please don't forget that I can see what you're thinking about. And let me tell you, that's not what we look like naked.”

“Oh?” Stacie quirked an eyebrow. “And how would you know what Chloe looked like naked? Have you forgotten to tell me something?”

Beca's blush only got brighter. "Shut up Stacie." 

"Oh, you're totally not telling me something. Come on, tell me."

"Well, I may or may not have seen Chloe naked before. But that's all you're getting. Now make me some food."

"What? Beca! You can't just say something like that and then change the topic! When was this? And why have you never said anything? Or at least Chloe? I can't Imagine her being able to keep something like this a secret. How was it?"

"Stacie! Calm down! And we didn't have sex. We just saw each other naked. And it was embarrassing. Now stop talking about it."

"You didn't? Why the hell not?"

"Ugh, this wasn't that kind of situation. It was a coincidence and we didn't know each other then."

"You know that I'll never stop asking about this. You could just tell me and save yourself a lot of trouble."

Beca groaned loudly. "You are the worst person I know Stacie. Fine, I'll tell you. But you won't repeat this to anyone, are we clear?"

The tall brunette nodded quickly. 

"Okay, so before I joined the Bellas, I was in the communal showers one day and was singing because I thought nobody was there. Well, apparently I was wrong because Chloe heard me sing and practically jumped me in the shower. She grabbed the curtain and yanked it away, demanding that I sing to her. I thought she was crazy, we were both stark naked. But we sang the song together and then her boy toy interrupted us."

Stacie had been grinning during Beca's story for the whole time. "Aw, how cute! You wanted to jump her bones then and there, right?"

"No!"

Stacie snorted. "Of course you did. We have all seen Chloe Beale in a bikini before, there is no way that you could have controlled yourself if Tom hadn't interrupted."

"Well..."

"Ha! I knew it!"

"Can you blame me? We're talking about Chloe here. Who has been doing cardio with Aubrey and the Bellas for three years before we even came here. That has definitely paid off."

The taller brunette grinned. "Yeah, for both of them." She mumbled as she put some of the noodles she had just cooked for Beca on a plate. 'Aubrey definitely benefited from that. Her body is amazing.'

Beca quirked an eyebrow and grinned evilly. "You like Aubrey?"

"What? No, well yes, she's my friend, but what do you mean?" 'Oh shit, I forgot about that. She totally read my mind just now.'

"Yep, I did. Want to tell me something?"

"There is nothing to tell."

"Oh come on! You forced me to tell you about the shower incident with Chloe, you can't just say no now. Do you like Aubrey?"

Stacie fought with herself for a moment – at least that's what it looked like to Beca with the girls strange expressions - before she sighed and sat down across from Beca who was happily eating her noodles by now.

"Yes. I like her a lot. But I don't think she likes me like that. We have been talking a lot on the phone and we're texting each other every day but she doesn't even live in Atlanta. Even if she wanted to be in a relationship with me, it would be really hard. I don't know what to do."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that this was such a hard topic for you or I wouldn't have brought it up. Have you talked with her about it?"

Stacie snorted. "God no. I'm way too scared of that. What if she never talked to me again? I couldn't live with that."

"I could say something about you guys forcing me to do the exact same thing you just told me you're scared to do, but I'll be the bigger person here and won't say anything on that topic. Want me to find out if Aubrey likes you? Maybe this mind reading thing can be useful after all. At least to one of us."

"Really? I don't really want to pry into her business, but if you just happen to hear something, I wouldn't mind a little info."

Beca grinned. "That's what I thought. Thanks for the food by the way. It was delicious. Can I have my muffin now?"

Stacie giggled and gave her captain the muffin. "Here you go. And you're welcome. Are you ready to face Chloe now? Because I just heard a car in the driveway."

Beca turned her head around quickly and looked out of the window. "Shit, Stacie, I don't know how to start! What should I do?"

"Calm down. It's just Chloe. You'll know what to do as soon as you're talking to her. Ask her if she wants to talk and then go to your room. I'm sure it will turn out alright."

"You think so?"

Stacie nodded. "I do. You'll be fine."

Beca could only nod because the door opened and Aubrey and Chloe were walking into the kitchen with two bags each.

They seemed surprised when they found Beca there and stopped walking. After a few seconds of silence, Aubrey decided to break it. "Hey guys. So, ready to talk Beca?"

The small brunette nodded. 

"Great. Then do it." The blonde said and pointed in the direction of the stairs. 

Chloe and Beca looked at each other and then at Aubrey who rolled her eyes. "Don't look at me like that, go! You need to talk. Stacie and I will make sure nobody will interrupt you."

"Um, okay. Chloe, do you want to talk? In my room maybe? Or yours if you're more comfortable there..." Beca looked at Chloe who hasn't smiled at her once since she came through the door.

The redhead nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that. And we can go to your room, I don't mind."

"Okay then." Beca mumbled and started walking up the stairs. Chloe followed her quickly.

Stacie and Aubrey looked at each other. "Are they going to be fine?" The brunette asked.

Aubrey shrugged. "I hope so. Beca better bring her best game, otherwise she'll loose Chloe."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Do you want a cookie? I just made them."

"Chocolate chip?"

Stacie snorted. "Of course. I knew you were going to visit."

The blonde's eyes widened and she smiled brightly. "Really? I'd love some. Thanks."

 

Beca and Chloe didn't say anything for a while and just stood in Beca's room. "Um, do you want to sit down?"

"Sure." Chloe answered and sat down on Amy's bed. Beca decided to sit on her own bed so she sat opposite her best friend.

"Okay, look, I'm sorry for my reaction yesterday. Can we maybe talk about it again? I didn't phrase that correctly and you misunderstood me. Well, you didn't really misunderstand me because that was what I said but I didn't mean it like that and..."

"Beca, you can stop rambling now. What do you want to tell me?"

"What I said yesterday... I didn't mean it. I mean, of course I'd like to stay friends with you but also something more... Ugh, I'm really bad at this. Sorry. Um, okay, let me start this again. So, Chloe, I love you."

The redhead didn't move a muscle, scared that Beca would disappear or take back what she had just said. But Chloe couldn't handle any more misunderstandings, so she had to make sure that Beca meant what Chloe thought she was saying.

"Yeah, I know. You told me that yesterday."

Beca put her hands in front of her eyes. "Ugh, you don't get it. Or maybe you do and just want to get back at me for yesterday. Anyway, I meant that I love you, as in I want to be in a relationship with you."

Chloe was trying to hide her rising smile. "Why?"

The small brunette looked at her confusedly. "What? Why?"

Chloe nodded. "Yes, why. Why did you change your mind all of a sudden?"

"I didn't change my mind. I've been in love with you since the moment I laid eyes on you."

Chloe crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Okay, if that is the case, what were you doing with Jesse?"

Beca was fidgeting nervously by now. She hadn't expected this conversation to go like this. She had expected for Chloe to start screaming and demand answers or just tell Beca that she could go and fuck herself. Even crying would have been better than this. Beca didn't like talking about this but she knew that Chloe deserved some answers.

"I love Jesse."

Chloe's eyes widened and she immediately stood up from Amy's bed, ready to leave the room, the house and Atlanta altogether. 'I knew that she was playing me. Damn you Beca, when did you get so cruel? I thought we were friends at least. You could have let me down gently.'

Beca jumped up from her bed and hurried over to the stairs to keep Chloe from leaving. "No! God, Beale, can you please stop for a second and let me finish? I was going to tell you that I made a mistake with him. Yes, I love him because he is one of my best friends. But I don't love him in a romantic way. I never have. I thought that the romantic love would come with time but it never did. That's why I broke up with him last year."

"You tried falling in love with him for over a year?"

Beca blushed. "Well, yes. I didn't want to hurt him and I thought that stuff like that takes time. Anyway, are you going to comment on the fact that I just told you that I'm in love with you? Because I'd really like to know if you changed your mind. Then I can crawl into bed and cry for the next week or something."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Not so fast. I have a few questions and I want answers. Honest answers Beca."

Beca gulped, but nodded. "Yes, sure. Do you mind if we sit back down for this?"

The redhead nodded and sat back down on Amy's bed. "So you love me? As in want to kiss me and be in a relationship with me?"

The brunette blushed again. "Yes."

"And you still love Jesse, but you love him as a friend and nothing more, right?"

Beca nodded quickly. 

"Why did you say that yesterday? That you wanted to stay friends with me?"

"I was scared. And I don't want to loose you. I didn't know what all of this would mean for us. But I spent the last few hours thinking about it and I think I'm ready now. We've both known that we loved each other for some time now and we've never actually talked about it. Can I ask you something? Why have you never said anything? I know why I didn't, but I'd like to know why you didn't."

Chloe sighed. "I wasn't sure if you were feeling the same. There were some situations where I totally thought you liked me, but then the next day you would be totally unapproachable. I did it anyway, you know me, but I wasn't sure if you really wanted me around."

"I always want you around. And I'm sorry if it seemed like I didn't care or something. I was probably just in a bad mood because of something or another. You know how I get. Sorry."

"It's fine. But that's why I didn't say anything. Our friendship means so much to me, I didn't want to ruin it with saying something too early. Well, I still did that, but I hope we can overcome it."

"You didn't ruin anything Chloe. I'm the one who fucked up and I'm really sorry. For my bad reaction and for this awful mind reading thing that caused this in the first place."

Chloe shook her head. "I should have stayed and listened to you. But I was really sad and I didn't want you to see me cry."

"Why? I thought I was one of the only people you let in when you're crying."

"Not when you're the reason for my tears Beca." 

Beca's shoulders fell down heavily. "Ugh. I never thought that I would be the one at fault for your crying..."

The redhead shrugged. "It's fine. So... What does this mean?"

"Um..." Beca was shifting around uncomfortably. 'Come on Mitchell, grow some balls and ask her.'

Chloe was grinning by now. "You're doing it again. That projecting thing."

"Huh? Oh, right. Sorry."

"So what did you want to ask me?"

"Doyouwanttobemygirlfriend?"

"I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't understand you." 'Oh my god, she's so cute. And she's actually asking me to be her girlfriend. I can't believe it, I've been dreaming about this moment for years.'

Beca was scowling now. "You totally understood what I said Beale. I can hear your thoughts, don't forget that."

"I didn't forget about it." Chloe said, smiling brightly. 'And now come over here and kiss your girlfriend.'

Beca's eyes widened. "Really? Are you sure?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm sure. Come over here."

The bright smile on Chloe's face was contagious and Beca couldn't help but return it. She stood up from her bed and went over to Chloe. She stopped right in front of her, not knowing what to do.   
'Oh my god, what should I do? I can't just lean down and kiss her, right? Should I sit down next to her? Can you hear me Chloe? Help me out, would you? Give me a hint or something!'

The redhead chuckled happily. "Just come here, Beca." She said and grabbed the younger girl's hands in her own and pulled her down a little until their faces were right in front of each other. Beca was extremely nervous and it showed in the way she twitched every once in a while. When Chloe just looked at her for a few seconds, Beca was starting to get impatient.

'Come on Beale, do something! I'm not getting any younger over here and my back is starting to cramp.'

Chloe rolled her eyes. "You are so whiny. Why did I even agree to being your girlfriend? I'm sure I just signed myself over to listen to your whining on every trip we'll ever take together. Wait, are you one of those annoying people who asks if we're already there every three seconds?"

Beca grinned. "Nope."

Chloe let her head fall a little. "Oh my god, you totally are. What have I done?"

The younger girl rolled her eyes. "You didn't do anything yet. Care to change that?"

Before Beca could prepare herself for the redhead's next words, Chloe had already pressed their lips together tightly. Beca was surprised at first but quickly joined Chloe in moving their lips. They just enjoyed the feeling of each other for a few seconds, happy with the fact that they could finally do the things they had secretly wanted to do for a long time. 

Chloe quickly wanted more and started moving her tongue over Beca's lips, asking for entrance.  
Beca opened her mouth immediately and greeted Chloe's tongue with her own. They kissed for a while until Beca couldn't keep standing in that position any longer. She broke the kiss and sat down heavily next to her best friend. No, not her best friend, her girlfriend. Both of them were grinning widely at each other. 

"Yeah. We should totally do that again."

Chloe giggled. "Definitely. Okay, don't hate me but I have to ask this. Are you absolutely sure that this is what you want? Because if you don't, please tell me now. I couldn't handle it if you changed your mind in a few days."

'I totally deserved that one. But it still hurts that she thinks I would ever do that to her.'

Chloe smiled sadly. "Sorry, but I have to ask."

Beca sighed. "I know. And don't worry, I am absolutely sure about this. I want to be in a relationship with you, Chloe Beale. I love you."

"Thanks." Chloe said and pecked her girlfriend on the lips.

'I'll never get used to this.' Beca thought and smiled happily.

"So, what now?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Chloe asked as she took the smaller brunette's left hand in her own.  
Beca was fidgeting, nervous about everything that would happen after this. 'Oh god, what do we do now?

Chloe squeezed Beca's hand reassuringly. "Relax. What do you want to do now?"

"Um, would you mind if we just went downstairs and told Stacie and Aubrey so they won't worry and then go to bed? Maybe cuddle a little? I know that you've been waiting for a long time for this, but I'm extremely nervous. I've never been with a woman before." 

Chloe smiled, amused by the adorable way Beca was fidgeting around and looking anywhere but at her. She used her left hand to turn Beca's chin around so she was facing her.

"Beca, it's fine, I can wait. We'll only do things you're comfortable with, alright? I can wait a little longer, it won't be a problem."

Beca raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Chloe nodded. 'Really. Yes, you're hot and sex is awesome but I can wait. I think you would notice it if I was lying. Can you even lie in your own thoughts? Wouldn't the underlying deeper thoughts give you away? I mean, a person always thinks about more stuff than what's at the forefront of ones mind...'

The small brunette looked at the redhead funnily. "Are you trying to break your brain? And to answer your question, I have no clue. But I guess I'll believe you. Thank you for understanding."

"No problem. I can still kiss you, right?"

Beca rolled her eyes. "You better. I think I'm already addicted to your lips."

Chloe giggled. "Yeah, me too." She quickly kissed Beca again. "Yep, definitely addicted. You wanted to go downstairs, right? Want to do that now? We can change into our sleep clothes on the way back and cuddle in bed after that."

Beca nodded. "Sounds great. Let's go."

Both girls stood up and made their way downstairs, hands still clasped together. When they walked into the living room, they didn't expect to find their two friends sleeping peacefully on the couch.

Aubrey was sitting on one end of the couch and Stacie seemed to use the blonde as a pillow. The brunette's head was lying on Aubrey's chest while Stacie's hands encircled her waist. The blonde's hands were also resting on Stacie, one of them on her back, the other one on her right arm.

Beca and Chloe were gaping. The small brunette checked her watch and saw that it was only around 9 pm. "Um, should we wake them?"

Chloe shook her head. "No, let them sleep. I know that Bree was tired the whole day and I think Stacie didn't sleep too well either."

"Do we just leave them here? Sleeping on the couch isn't too comfortable."

Chloe grinned. "Oh, I think Stacie is pretty comfortable. And Aubrey won't mind it."

Beca raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Want to tell me something? And that reminds me, Stacie asked me to do her a favor. She asked me to talk to Aubrey and find out if she liked her. You wouldn't be able to help me with that, would you?"

Chloe grinned. "Well, I might be able to help you with that. What would I get for my troubles?"

Beca returned the grin. "Well, why don't we change into our pajamas and find out?"

"Deal!" Chloe said quickly and ran up the stairs.

Beca looked at her for a second and shook her head. "She is crazy." 

"She is, but she looks like she's happy. I'm glad I don't have to kill you after all, hobbit. Don't screw this up."

Beca quickly turned around and saw that Aubrey's eyes were open and staring at her. 

"Um, yeah I'm glad about that too. Aubrey?"

"What is it?"

"Do you like Stacie?"

Aubrey blushed brightly and glared at the small DJ. "None of your business. Go upstairs and entertain Chloe." 'But yes, I do. But I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone yet. I need to talk to her first and figure out what I want. I'm only telling you now because I don't know how long this mind reading thing will continue and I don't want you to overhear something and spread rumors.'

Beca nodded and smiled at Aubrey. 'I won't tell anybody. I'm glad you told me and I really hope things will work out for you two. Believe it or not, but I actually want to see you happy Posen.'

Aubrey rolled her eyes. 'Thanks. And now get out of here. Chloe is waiting for you. If you break her heart, I'll break you, understood?'

Beca gulped but nodded. "Good night."

"Good night. See you tomorrow, hobbit."

With that, the small brunette turned around and went back to her room. She changed into her pajamas and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. 'We didn't say which room we would sleep in. Should I just go to my room and wait for her or see if she's in hers?'

Beca was standing in front of the stairs that led to her room and thought about what she should do when Chloe turned up next to her.

"What are you doing here? Is there a spider on the stairs and you're waiting for me to bring it outside? Because we really need to work on your irrational fear of them."

Beca suddenly turned pale. "No, no spiders. I was just waiting for you. And I'm not afraid of anything."

Chloe started laughing. "Right. Do you remember last week when you wouldn't leave your room because a tiny spider was sitting at the top of your stairs? You texted me an SOS, telling me that I needed to save you from a gigantic monster. I was very disappointed when the spider was so small, I had trouble seeing it."

Beca scowled. "That was only because you weren't wearing your glasses or contact lenses. You're practically blind without them. That thing was big enough to swallow me in one gulp."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Sure it was. I'll let you deal with the next one on your own then."

Beca's eyes widened. "No! You wouldn't do that, right? I'm your girlfriend now, you need to save me when I'm about to die."

"The spider wouldn't have killed you."

"It might have! I could have died from a heart attack. That thing came out of nowhere, I jumped up higher than I ever did before. It was a very dangerous situation. I could have slipped and hit my head from jumping so high."

"If you say so. Do you want to go upstairs now? I want my cuddles."

Beca crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Fine. But this discussion is not over. I'll get you to see it my way soon enough."

"If I saw it your way, there would be no one to carry them outside. I wouldn't be able to save you, I would just sit in a corner with you and we would stare at it together, afraid that if we take our eyes off it for one second, it will run away and then we would have to search everywhere for it because you wouldn't be able to sleep, knowing that it was somewhere in your room."

"... Okay, please never share my opinion. Why don't we talk about something different? Otherwise I'll get nightmares from all the spider talk."

Chloe giggled. "Yeah, let's go. I'm starting to get tired." 

The redhead took one of Beca's hands in hers again and they went upstairs, quickly getting into Beca's bed and turned off the lights. They turned until they both lied sideways, facing each other.

"Beca?"

"Huh?"

"You wanted to talk about Aubrey and Stacie, right?"

Beca shook her head. "No, I already got my answer. I talked to Aubrey for a moment after you went upstairs."

"Oh. I guess we woke her up. Are you two okay? She didn't say anything to you, right?"

"She just gave me the speech. I'm dead meat the moment I break your heart."

Chloe rolled her eyes but couldn't help but grin. "Aw, how cute. She shouldn't have but I'm glad that she cares enough to say something like that on my behalf. She's the best friend I ever had."

"Hey now, I'm getting jealous."

"You're different. You've been different from the moment I met you. You never fit into one of my designated drawers. You always kinda camped outside of them and filled them whenever you wanted to. It was very confusing."

"Um, I'm sorry?"

"Yeah yeah, I'm sure you are. But we won't have that problem any longer, right? Since you fit into the girlfriend drawer rather nicely."

Beca nodded and kissed Chloe just because she could. "Yep, I'm staying in that drawer for as long as you'll have me."

"Aw, you're so cute. Don't worry, I plan on keeping you forever."

"God, you're so cheesy."

They smiled at each other and just took each other in. They enjoyed the silence for a moment until Beca had to ask one last question for the day.

"Chloe?"

"Hm?"

"I want to ask you something. I talked to a few people about you today and they all told me that you would leave if I didn't get my head out of my ass. And before you think that that had anything to do with my decision to get together with you, it did not. I love you and have loved you for a long time now, but I really need to know if you would have left if I had rejected you."

Chloe sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. "I don't know. I love the Bellas and Barden but I can't stay here forever. I've already overstayed my welcome here and it's time to move on. But I don't know if I would have been able to leave you guys behind. But it isn't a definite no either. I may have decided that staying here any longer wasn't productive anymore but I don't know. I'm glad I don't have to make that decision anymore. Well, I do but not until the year is over."

Beca was quiet for a moment. 'She would have definitely left me if I hadn't pulled my head out of my ass. Oh my god, I couldn't have lived with the knowledge that I was the reason for her leaving the Bellas.'

"Relax Beca. I'm staying. No need to panic."

The small brunette took a few deep breaths and concentrated on Chloe's face. "Okay, I'm calm again. Sorry for that. I was just realizing something."

"It's fine. It's getting late, let's go to sleep now, okay? We can continue talking in the morning."

Beca nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Good night Chloe. I love you." She leaned forward a little and kissed Chloe on the lips. Chloe happily returned the kiss.

"Sleep well Beca. And I love you too. The redhead mumbled as she moved closer to the small brunette and encircled her with her arms. Beca relaxed into her girlfriend's arms and sighed happily. 

"Night Chlo."

 

The next morning, the first person to wake up was Chloe again. She smiled to herself, remembering the last day. It had been hard but so worth it in the end. She could finally call Beca her girlfriend and she couldn't be happier about it. 

Chloe just spent the next ten minutes watching her girlfriend sleep until the brunette girl started to stir. 

"Chloe?" She mumbled.

"Hm?" Chloe answered, still mesmerized by her girlfriend's sleep tousled hair and perfect face.

"Did I dream that last night?"

Chloe grinned. "If you're talking about this..." She leaned forwards and pressed a long kiss on Beca's surprised lips. "Then, no you weren't. You are my girlfriend now."

Beca sighed happily. "Oh thank god. It would have been so awkward if I had just dreamed all this stuff up. You know, with the mind reading thing and our argument."

"All of that happened. And I'm glad they did. Even the mind reading thing. That reminds me, three days are over, can you still hear me?"

Beca looked at her but didn't hear anything. She squinted her eyes a little, trying to hear something but she got nothing. "I think it's gone."

Chloe's eyes widened. "Really? That's awesome!"

Beca nodded. "Yeah. I was getting tired of the constant noises in my head."

"Then everything is back to normal. Well nearly everything. We're girlfriends now."

Beca grinned. "Yes we are. Do you want to get over here and give me a proper kiss? I think I deserve one after all of the troubles it caused me. I'm never going outside during a storm again."

"I hope so. I wouldn't let you leave anyway."

Beca snorted. "I wouldn't expect anything else."

Chloe leaned over to her and kissed her extensively. Beca smiled into the kiss and silently thanked god for the storm that had changed her life forever.

THE END

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I hope you guys liked it. This was the longest chapter I have ever written but I thought it would work better as one chapter instead of splitting it into two. Anyway, thanks for reading :D

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Soo, a new story. But don't worry, I already have the chapters written, there are only three. I hope you guys enjoyed this, this is just a small story because the idea wouldn't leave my mind. To those of you who read my other stories: Sorry for not updating in a while, I had a lot of stuff to do but I've been and I am working on the next chapters to my other stories. Just had to figure out some stuff first for them. Oh, and this story was part of a present for NinaR22 for her birthday and she loved it. I hope you guys will like it too :)


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